Lighting Inside Your BH !!!

During my first visit into a BH located in Penang I saw a number of "street lights" on the staircase and on the BH floor areas.

As far as I know or understand bright light inside your BH is something you need to avoid but this BH owner have the opposite idea.

I asked him why he placed so many of this lighting and who asked him to?

His answer was more towards his previous Sifu who got him into swiftlet farming.

Well I have to say that after a number of years (5 years at least) his BH is populated with about 1000 nests and most of these birds hide at the far end of the BH.

Recently they stop multiplying and he could not find the reasons why.

This was why I was invited to view the BH and provided him with some solutions.

One of my recommendation was to remove all those lamps he installed inside the nesting rooms and the staircase areas.

But it crossed my mind about why his BH was still populated even with those dimmed light were installed inside.

My conclusions are as follows:

1) His unit might be the only one that started many years ago.  Since there were no other BH around him those birds might have very little choice but to adopt to the bright light.

2) The light on the staircase might be useful in pulling those birds downstairs. The light must have show the way downstairs.

3) The light was very dim or low intensity and most of the nests were at corners where little light will disturb them.

I strongly believed that bright light is something these swiftlet will not be happy with.

Main reason being the chance for their nests to be invaded by those intruders such as crows or hornbill or any other predators are very high.

They are gifted with echo sounder and using it in total darkness will help to find the right spot to built their nest.

You might want to test my theory.

Just try this idea to move all new nests to a specific nesting room(s).

Just imagine your BH has three nesting rooms.

Most of the nests are found in room number say number one.

You wanted the nests to be located inside room number two.

Room three also have some nests.

What you do to proof my theory is that install a light bulb about maybe 10 watts inside the two rooms with nests and let the second room be as dark as you can.

Make sure the internal sounds are also loud as compared to the two other rooms.

Count the nests in the three rooms before and after.

Within 5-6 weeks you might see where most of the new birds will be staying or building their nests.

My prediction is room number 2.

Try to proof that I am wrong !!!